The NHS trust in charge of Watford General is set to slide still further into debt as finance chiefs reveal its planned deficit will more than double this year.

And bosses say they need to borrow £53.3million this year to get back on track.

Cash-strapped West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust limped through the last financial year on Government loans and concessions to end in March with a deficit of £13.8million.

But the benefits given to the trust during 2014/15 will not continue and hospital bosses said the targeted deficit by March 31, 2016, should be "no greater than £32.8million".

In a letter to interim chief executive Jac Kelly, the Government's Trust Development Authority - which monitors struggling trusts - said the plan was "high risk" given the "planned deficit of £32.8million and a lack of assurance that key quality performance indicators and constitutional standards will be met and sustained for 2015/16".

The letter continued: "The submitted plan is disappointing in light of the £12million of transformation support the trust received in 2014/15. We had expected to see more evidence of a return on this significant investment."

A report presented to the trust board said: "Balancing income and expenditure sustainably while responding to patient care demands is likely to become more challenging in 2015/16.

"The current forecast deficit for the end of 2015/16 is £32.8million. This represents an £19million increase in the deficit compared to 2014/15 outturn (subject to audit)."

The report continued: "The size of the underlying problem - built up over a number of years, but compounded most significantly in 2013/14 in response to increased quality demands - means that a return to a recurrent balanced position can only be realistically planned for over more than one financial year."

It also noted an estimated £66million backlog in maintenance and plans to spend £27.2million this year on capital projects to support the provision of safe services.

The trust has had a loan of £8.7million already approved and an application for £44.6million will be submitted this year.

Don Richards, the trust's chief financial officer, said: "2014/15 was a very challenging year for us, as it was for most other acute providers in England, and it is universally acknowledged that this year will be even more difficult for the NHS.

"We have seen an unprecedented demand for our services over the last year. We have worked hard to deliver quality improvements, for example the opening of our Ambulatory Care Unit and a new winter ward, to ensure that our patients continue to receive good and safe care.

"We reported a year-end deficit for 2014/15 of £13.8m, which was a small improvement on our planned outturn of £14m deficit.

"Included in our Annual Plan for 2015/16 is a projected deficit of £32.7m.

"This takes into account the fact that we had a number of one off injections of funding in 2014/15 which won’t be repeated this year. Other financial pressures will include a £5m increase in the premium that we pay to the NHS litigation authority.

"In addition, demand for emergency care continues to rise and we are working with our partners to put in place a more resilient structure to meet this demand.

"Our Annual Plan outlines our priorities for the year, and demonstrates how we will achieve these, including making £12m of efficiency savings.

"Despite the deficit figure forecast for 2015/16 we expect to see a steady improvement in performance over the next five years supported by a robust efficiency programme, a clear strategy for service provision to be provided by a more stable workforce."